English National Ballet 2025-2026 Season, Shows, Reviews

byCherilyn J. Lee

January 1, 2020 - Updated on July 4, 2025

English National Ballet

♦ Location: London – England

♦ Artistic Director: Aaron S. Watkin

♦ Orchestra: English National Ballet Philharmonic

♦ Affiliated School: English National Ballet School

♦ Founded in 1950 by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet. Renamed in 1989.

♦ Official Website of English National Ballet

Table of Contents

English National Ballet 2025-2026 Season

The English National Ballet 2025-2026 season is one of many firsts including the company debut of performing works by Martha Graham and Crystal Pite.

Graham’s Errand into the Maze will be part of the season opening R:Evolution, a quadruple bill which features works by some of the most innovative dance creators. It accompanies George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, William Forsythe’s Herman Schmerman (Quintet), and David Dawson’s Four Last Songs, the latter originally choreographed for the company in 2023.

English National Ballet will dance their first Pite piece, Body and Soul (Part 1), which also marks its UK premiere. The double-bill titled Body & Soul is completed with a world premiere by Kameron N. Saunders “examining how we find our authentic self in the face of crushing societal pressure and expectation”. It is set to a new composition by Brandon Finklea and Harold Walker III will be played by English National Ballet Philharmonic, conducted by Maria Seletskaja.

“At English National Ballet, we believe in the boundless emotional power of dance to move more people, in more ways. Alongside works that honour tradition and drive innovation, we offer a wide-ranging programme of creative learning and participation.

So however you choose to connect with us, we invite you to ‘feel more’ with ENB.”.”

Aaron S. Watkin, Artistic Director of English National Ballet

Two full-length classical ballets – Kenneth MacMillan’s The Sleeping Beauty (on a national tour) and Watkin and Arielle Smith’s The Nutcracker – as well as Akram Khan’s Giselle, which celebrates its 10th anniversary – round out the season.

English National Ballet Promotions and New Dancers for the 2025-2026 Season

“As our 75th Season draws to a close, I feel immensely proud of all we have delivered. Our company of wonderful artists came together to create a year of exceptional experiences for our audiences, both on stage and beyond. From world premieres to audience favourites, our work on stage, on screen and online, and across all our learning and participation activity, it’s been a season to celebrate.

It is a real pleasure to be able to acknowledge our dancers’ hard work and development through promotions within the Company. I’m thrilled to be welcoming the superb dancers and world-renowned guest repetiteurs who join us next season, as well as sharing my sincere thanks and appreciation to those who are departing.”

On June 25, 2025, Artistic Director Aaron S. Watkin announced several promotions from within the ranks of English National Ballet:

Gareth Haw is promoted to Lead Principal.
Rentaro Nakaaki, Anna Nevzorova, Haruhi Otani, Emily Suzuki and Angela Wood are promoted to First Soloist.
Swanice Luong and Miguel Angel Maidana are promoted to Soloist; Ashley Coupal, Carolyne Galvao, Jose María Lorca Menchón, Thiago Silva, Anri Sugiura, and Anna-Babette Winkler, are promoted to First Artist.
Martinho Santos is promoted to 6th year Artist.

The company also welcomes the following new dancers:

Paulo Rodrigues, formerly with the Joffrey Ballet, joins as a Soloist.
Hatice Çağla Ertürk and Elvis Nudo join as Soloists from Finnish National Ballet.
Rodrigo Pinto joins as a Soloist and Taela Graff joins as an Artist, both from Houston Ballet.
Tara Millard, formerly with the Norwegian National Ballet, joins as an Artist.
Zai Calliste and Lois Fraiz join as Artists, having completed their training with English National Ballet School.
Sacha Venkatasawmy from Dutch National Ballet Academy joins as an Artist.

Joining the Company as Prix de Lausanne Dancer is Jakob Wheway Hughes, from Tring Park Ballet School.

English National Ballet Repetiteurs for the 2025-2026 Season

Cynthia Harvey returns as Associate Guest Repetiteur, alongside Stephanie Arndt, Yannick Boquin, Christina Johnson, Manuel Legris, and Alejandro Parente as Guest Repetiteurs.

English National Ballet Dancers Departing After 2024-2025 Season

Lead Principal Francesco Gabriele Frola leaves to become Principal with San Francisco Ballet.
Lead Principal Erina Takahashi becomes full-time Repetiteur with the Company.
First Artist Breanna Foad leaves to join Zurich Ballet as Group with Solo.
First Artist Edvinas Jakonis has left to join Lithuanian National Ballet as a Soloist.
Soloist Vsevolod Maievskyi, Junior Soloist Tiffany Hedman, and Artists Paulo Gonzalez, Marta Monesi, Vincent Philp, Alexandra Terry, and Madison Whiteley also leave the Company this season.
Repetiteur Laurent Guilbaud leaves to join The Munich State Ballet, after six years with English National Ballet.

Source: English National Ballet